


Window Of Opportunity

by pasteldanhowells



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Christmas, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 08:42:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17118092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasteldanhowells/pseuds/pasteldanhowells
Summary: Dan goes to Starbucks everyday and sits in the same spot. Not even the cold weather can stop his everyday routine. One day, Dan decides to write on the window out of boredom. The next day, he's surprised to find a reply by a stranger.For the prompt:A festive meet cute. Again, open to whatever idea the author has. Open to any rating including explicit.





	Window Of Opportunity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Allthephils](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allthephils/gifts).



> Thank you so much to my beta lilactreesinwinter for being awesome and so lovely :')

“Thank you so much,” Dan smiles as he takes the hot chocolate drink from the barista.

“Merry Christmas.”

Dan turns around and quickly looks around. He sighs softly before heading straight to the open chair by the window, which he has unofficially claimed as his personal Starbucks seat. Dan comes to Starbucks every day in the afternoon. Not even the heavy snow outside will stop his normal routine. It’s been snowing every day so far in December, and the weather has been chilly and cold. Dan hates the cold, it’s his least favorite part about the holidays. Which is why, mostly, he stays inside during December.

Dan sits down and places his drink on the table. He looks at the window, before reaching over and clearing a spot on the glass for him to look out of and people watch.

After sitting for a few minutes, Dan decides to draw a small smiley face on the window, followed by a simple ‘hi’ and a D.H. Dan usually never draws on the windows but today, he can’t help himself.

Dan continues to sit at the chair for another twenty minutes or so, silently people watching and also browsing on his phone while he drinks his hot chocolate. He finally finishes his drink and then he tosses the cup into the bin before heading over towards the door.

“Have a good day, sir!”

Dan looks over and smiles at the barista who served him earlier. “Thank you. You too,” he replies politely before walking out of the coffee shop and heading home.

When Dan returns to Starbucks the very next day, he’s actually surprised when he finds a reply beneath his smiley face that he left on the window yesterday. Nobody replies to his window drawings normally. They’re usually cleaned off by the time he returns to Starbucks.

Somebody replied with ‘hello’ and they’ve sighed it with P.L. as well.

P.L.? Dan doesn’t know anybody with those initials, but now he’s curious about who this stranger is.

“His name is Phil.”

Dan jumps at the sudden voice and looks over, seeing the same barista from yesterday. “I’m sorry?”

“P.L. His name is Phil. I served him right after you left yesterday,” she tells him.

“Oh,” Dan takes a deep breath. “Does he come here very often? Is he a new customer?”

The barista chuckles as Dan bombards her with multiple questions. “No. He comes here every other day. He’s a regular here though. I don’t really know him so I can’t really help you with anything else. Sorry,” she says. “I hope you get to find him. It’s cute that he replied.” She turns around and heads back to work.

Dan bites his lip as he looks back over at the window. He hesitates before walking over and sitting down, then he takes his phone out and takes a picture of the stranger’s replies on the window.

This goes on just about every day for about a week. Dan comes to Starbucks, and finds another note on the window. Dan knows P.L can’t come into Starbucks every day, he assumes it’s because he’s working, so some days he has to wait for his reply.

Dan wants to find out who P.L is. He tries staying longer than usual sometimes to try and spot him, but nobody ever comes to the window. It’s quite disappointing. But, it’s also a fun game.

Dan loves that the Starbucks employees have kept their drawings and replies up on the window too.

It’s Monday when Dan enters Starbucks once again. It’s snowing, and it’s freezing outside. He almost didn’t come to Starbucks today due to how crappy the weather has been out. But, he sucks it up and bundles himself up to the best of his ability. He doesn’t want to ruin the seven day streak he has with P.L.

“Are you D.H.?”

Dan nearly jumps out of skin when he hears the voice, and then he looks over. He looks up nervously and blinks a few times when he sees a man standing in front of him. “Huh?”

“D.H. Is that you?” The man asks again, stepping closer.

“Yeah,” Dan finally replies. “Says so right here on my cup.” He turns the cup around and shows the man that the cup has the name Dan written on it. “Is there something that I can help you with?”

The man chuckles. “Yeah, actually... can I sit down in that seat for a second?”

Dan blinks a few times, confused, but he doesn’t argue. The man is being surprisingly kind to him so he should be kind back to him too. He stands up from the seat and then he watches as the man sits, and then the man reaches over and starts writing below what Dan has written just a few minutes ago.

Dan’s eyes widen as soon as he realizes that the man in front of him is P.L.

Dan squints slightly, trying to read what the man has written on the window.

I’ve seen Muse live five times. They’re incredible :) - P.L.

“You have not seen Muse five times,” Dan says with shock. A wave of emotions is flowing through him. He’s been dying to meet this man for the past week. They’ve been talking over window drawings, and they’ve learned so much about each other. Dan knows he already likes this guy due to his love of Muse.

The man looks over at Dan and smiles. “I have,” he says, standing up from the window. “Hi. I’m Phil.”

“Dan,” Dan breathes, slowly reaching over and shaking the man’s hand. He’s trying to control himself, as he’s been anticipating this meeting for about a week now. He wasn’t expecting to meet him so soon, but he’s honestly grateful that he didn’t have to wait long. “Wait… you’re P.L.?”

“That’s me. Says so right here on my cup,” Phil confirms, holding his cup up, clearly imitating Dan.

“Wow. I can’t believe this. I was actually starting to think that we would never meet each other,” Dan says. “I mean, I do enjoy our window conversation but, that wasn’t going to last forever.”

“Probably not,” Phil shakes his head. “Would you like to sit down with me?”

“Wait, uh, really? You wouldn’t mind?” Dan asks, blushing as he looks down. Dan doesn’t want to admit it, but he knows that he’s falling in love with this man that he just met. He hopes that this actually works out. It’s been awhile since he’s been in the dating scene, thanks to his last boyfriend cheating on him and making him think love doesn’t exist. It’s been three years, but maybe it’s time to finally move on.

“Of course not. Please, sit,” Phil says as he motions for Dan to sit in the chair across from him.

“This is a little weird,” Dan admits as he sits down in the chair across from Phil. “I’m only used to sitting in the chair you’re sitting in. I don’t mind though. It’s just different. I’m glad we finally met each other.”

Phil chuckles as Dan rambles. “You’re nervous, aren’t you?” He asks, cutting Dan off.

Dan blinks a few times as he looks up at Phil. “How can you tell?”

“You’re rambling,” Phil tells him. “It’s okay. I bite my nails when I’m nervous. Mum hates when I do that. She says it’s a bad habit but I’ve never been able to stop.”

Dan blushes. “So, you’re a Starbucks guy. You come here everyday like I do?”

“Sometimes,” Phil replies with a nod. “If I’m not too busy with work. Today I wanted to come in earlier, thought maybe I would be able to catch you in person if I did. Looks like I was right.”

“You were trying to meet me?” Dan asks, surprised to hear this.

“Obviously. I had to meet the guy who shares the same love of Muse,” Phil smiles.

Dan smiles. “I just can’t believe you’ve seen them live five times,” he says. “I’ve only seen them once, but they were amazing. I’m waiting for them to announce they’re going on tour again. I want to get tickets.”

“Really? Me too. We should go together. It would be so much fun,”

Dan doesn’t expect the two of them to sit and chat at Starbucks for so long, but they do. It’s over an hour, until Phil announces that he has to leave for work. Dan’s disappointed, but he’s not going to get Phil fired. He knows that he’ll be seeing Phil again, which he’s very excited about. They’ve already made plans.

Dan continues seeing Phil for weeks. They meet at their favorite spot in Starbucks.

The two boy’s don’t move outside of Starbucks, and their interactions remain casual and normal as well. But, Dan actually doesn’t mind this at all. He enjoys seeing Phil all the time. It’s never boring when they hang out with each other. Phil’s a pretty laid back person so he’s easy to talk to. They knew that they had a lot in common with each other even before meeting, which made things easier for them.

However, one day when Dan and Phil meet up at Starbucks, something is different.

“I’ve got our drinks,” Dan smiles as he walks up to Phil. The two have been taking turns getting drinks for each other now, ever since they started hanging out at Starbucks. He places them both drinks down onto the table. He goes to sit down across from Phil, but Phil quickly stops him and grabs a hold of his arm. Phil hesitates before he stands up. Dan has no idea why he’s acting so weird.

“Wait,” Phil begins. “There’s something I want to ask you before we continue.”

“Okay,” Dan blinks a few times as he looks up at Phil. “What would you like to ask me?”

“I would like…” Phil takes a deep breath, trying to find the right words to say. He reaches over and he gently grabs Dan’s hand. “I would, Dan, like to ask you to be my boyfriend. I know that we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks. So, I understand if it’s too soon But, I’ve had so much fun hanging out with you the past few weeks, and... I’d love to get to know you more. You know, outside of Starbucks?”

Dan’s eyes widen. This is not what he’d been expecting at all. But, he’s happy.

“I…” Dan shakes his head, trying to take everything in. “Yes-” He laughs and looks up at Phil. “You idiot. Of course I would love to be your boyfriend.”

Phil grins at Dan’s answer, relieved. He had been so nervous about Dan rejecting him. They haven’t even really known each other for that long, and he’s been worrying about scaring Dan away. Phil leans down, due to Dan being much shorter than him, and he kisses Dan. The kiss is soft and sweet. Dan has never felt anything like this before with his past relationships, but Phil’s a gentle person in general anyways, so, he really shouldn’t be that surprised by this.

Dan closes his eyes as he begins to kiss Phil back, but then pulls away when he hears people cheering. He looks over and he blushes when he sees a couple of the Starbucks employees watching them, and they’re clearly excited about the news. “Oh no.” He buries his face in Phil’s chest out of embarrassment. Dan should have known. It’s obvious the Starbucks employees have been watching the two of them since the very beginning of their friendship. Dan just didn’t really think anything of it before now. 

Phil laughs and wraps an arm around Dan. “Hey, look. Looks like we’ve got some fans,” he says.

“I’m so embarrassed,” Dan mumbles, looking up at Phil.

“Don’t be. I’m not,” Phil smiles. “I think it’s sweet.”

“Of course you would. You’re so positive, it’s almost disgusting,” Dan laughs, pulling away from Phil.

“So, Dan. Now that you’re my boyfriend. I’d like to take you on a date,” Phil says.

“Date?” Dan asks, raising his eyebrows. “Like, a Starbucks date? We’ve already gone on many of those.”

“No,” Phil laughs and shakes his head. “Not a Starbucks date. Like, an actual date. We can do whatever. You know, we can go see a movie or have a nice dinner. Or, we don’t have to go out at all.”

“I never pictured you as a romantic type,” Dan says, giggling softly.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Phil smirks.

“Shut up,” Dan laughs and he pushes Phil playfully. “Can we drink our drinks now before they get cold? We can continue to talk about that date while we finish them.”

“Alright, fine,” Phil allows Dan to sit down first before sitting down himself in his seat. He looks over at Dan and he can’t help but smile when he looks at him.

Dan glances up and frowns slightly when he sees Phil looking at him. “Is there something on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, going to grab his phone to double check.

“No, no… You’re fine, Dan...” Phil reaches over and gently takes Dan’s hand. “I’m just… very lucky.”

“God, I feel like my cheeks are burning,” Dan mumbles as he places his other hand on his cheek.

“Perhaps that’s a good thing. It’s freezing outside,” Phil chuckles.

Dan rolls his eyes as he looks at Phil before laughing. “You’re such a dork!”


End file.
